Some people are asking this question because they are curious about if they can use cast iron cookşng pans on the induction cookers. And also some people are just curious about the properties of cast iron. Here, we will give a simple answer to the question of is cast iron is magnetic. And also with the additional information, you will understand the general technicals lies in different aspects.
Is Cast Iron Magnetic? Simple Answer: Yes
Cast iron is a magnetic material. Where do we know this? Because around 94-96% of the total material is iron in cast iron. Another percentage is carbon and other additives. And we know that iron is a magnetic material, which makes cast iron a magnetic material.
So, you can use cast iron pans on the induction stoves and cookers.
Why We Can Only Use Magnetic Materials on Induction Cookers?
To understand it, we need to take a look at the working principles of induction cookers. The induction cooker is a system that heats the cooking pans in a very different way. If we take a look at conventional systems such as gas stoves, there is a direct application of heat from the source. So, you do not need to bother yourself about the material of the pan.
But in the induction systems, there are metallic coils that electricity comes to them. But the electricity does not heat the coils like in the ceramic cooktop. This electricity creates a magnetic area. And this magnetism contact with the magnetic materials. The atoms of magnetic pans start to vibrate and create heat. So the heat is created directly on the cooking pan. Because of it, the heating application with the induction cookers is much easier than the other systems.
But if the material is not magnetic, the induction system will not work on these systems. Because of this reason, people are asking the question of is cast iron is magnetic. And you can be sure that the cast iron is magnetic and you can use them on the induction cookers without any problem.
Why Magnetic Cooking Pans Do Not Stick to Induction Cookers?
The magnetism created by the induction cooker is not an attractive magnetic field. Because of it, cast iron cooking pans do not stick to induction cookers in general.
Why Do You Use Cast Iron Cookware? What are the Advantages?
Also, there are different kinds of advantages that we need to consider about cast iron that we can use as cookware. If we consider these advantages, it will be very sensible to use them.
- First of all, cast iron is a very long-lasting material. You need to use these materials in different kinds of applications. And for long years, you will not have any problem with this material.
- Also, they provide a very good amount of non-stick property in general. This is the biggest reason why people are using cast iron cooking pans.
- Like Teflon, they do not include harmful chemicals for health.
- You should not put them in the dishwasher. But is very easy to clean with a hand without any problem.
What Affects the Level of Magnetism?
If we turn into the more technical details about the magnetism of the materials, there are different kinds of things that we can state.
First of all, the level of purity of the material is very important for the level of magnetism. If the purity is not at a good level, the effectiveness of the magnetism will be low. Also for cast iron, the percentage of iron is very high. Because of this, it is a very good magnetic material.
And also the level of the magnetic field is very important. The total strength of the magnetic field created by an induction cooker or a magnet has a profound effect on magnetism. With the increasing strength of the magnetic field, the required magnetism will increase.
What the Other Materials are Magnetic?
Along with cast iron, other materials that include iron, nickel, and cobalt are magnetic. And the alloys that include these materials are generally magnetic systems that are affected by the magnetic field.
For example, steel is a material that has around 98% of iron inside it. The difference between steel from cast iron is the percentage of carbon. The carbon percentage of cast iron is generally higher than 2-3 times that the steel material. But in terms of the magnetic properties, there is not a very big difference between these materials in general.
Also, aluminum allots that include Nickel or Cobalt materials are slightly magnetic applications. Because the percentage of Nickel and Cobalt percentages in these materials is not high as steel and cast iron.
Non-Magnetic Materials
The cooking pans made from these materials will not work with the induction cookers. These materials are generally aluminum and copper pans. If you put these pans on the induction cookers, you will see that they will not get hot over time. Because of it, do not try to use cooking pans made from these materials.
How to Understand that A Material Magnetic?
It is a very simple process. Just hold a small magnet to them. If the material attracts the magnet, we can say that the material is magnetic. But if the material is not attracting the magnet in a good way like the other materials, we can say that this material has a limited percentage of magnetic material inside them.
If a material does not attract a magnet at all, we can say that it is not a magnetic material.
Other Features of Cast Iron Material
Also, we need to consider the other important features of cast iron material in general. As a general material apart from the cooking pan material, they have important features;
- In the general cast, iron materials are brittle but very hard to break. They are very strong material.
- Also, they are very good for vibration isolation. This is a very important characteristic to consider.
- The castability of cast iron as you understand from its name is very good. Because of it, cooking pans that are made from cast iron are generally made with casting.
- Also cast iron is a very durable material. If you have cast iron cooking pans, this means they will last very long periods.
- It is very resistant to tear and wear as you can expect from the materials.
- The heat properties of cast iron are very good. It can retain heat for long periods which makes it very useful as cookware.
Conclusion on Is Cast Iron Magnetic
As you can understand that cast iron is a completely magnetic material that you can use in different kinds of applications. Also, you can use that in the induction cooking places.
We wish that this topic is useful to you. If you have additional comments and questions, please leave them below.
Check the other articles about engineering materials;
Bathroom Ceiling Ideas – Different Materials and Considerations
Eccentric Reducer Complete Guide – Materials and Installation
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